🏆 THE AMBY AWARDS 2023 TOP PICK - DIVERSE LIT 🏆
It's Rin and Hye-jin against the world. Or so it should have been.
Nagara Rin and Joon Hye-jin, college sweethearts and passionate gamers, have lived a fairytale marriage. Not even a decade after did...
Hoppsan! Denna bild följer inte våra riktliner för innehåll. Försök att ta bort den eller ladda upp en annan bild för att fortsätta.
A minute, an hour, or a whole day. I couldn't tell how long I've been scything my way through the hordes of rotting bodies. For every zombie I decapitated, another took its place. Being the undead, the Monarch could use them again and again, like some sort of shield.
To banish her to whatever hole she crawled out of, I needed to sever her connection to these rotting bodies. And I couldn't do that if I just kept swinging my sword. An arm sped towards my face, a shadow falling over from behind. I gritted my teeth, ducked from the oncoming punch, and stabbed backwards. My blade sank into rigid flesh. With a grunt, I pulled it free, swung it into a wide arc, taking a few arms and jaws along the way, and leaped a few steps back before anyone could grab me.
My soles grated against the carpet of shards and splinters. I passed my hand over my face, summoning my menu. Even with all of my skills unlocked, as a valdyrsi, I couldn't do much when there's no other ability to copy. Unless...
The first line of zombies rushed towards me. I continued backing away, putting more distance between us. My back eventually pressed against the stone wall. Beside me, a series of tall pillars holding up carved arches spread out. Bony fingers reached out to me. This was bad. I brought my sword up and slashed, driving them back. Bought myself a little more time.
I shoved the zombie away, letting it crash against the ones behind it, creating a domino effect out of tangled limbs and clacking bones. My boots crunched over them as I dove into the fray. With nothing explosive in my skills list, might as well. I was as useless here as I was against Arzo. Because believe it or not, the man actually managed to make everyone think he was a psalm spiria with a poor excuse for attributes. In reality, as I fought him, I realized his stats as a valdyrsi might have even rivaled Cavya or Karmi.
Which made me worry about Hye-jin. Has she found him already? What's happening to her?
My teeth ground against each other as I whirled and decapitated more zombies. As expected, they staggered up. The detached limbs and heads settled on the floor, their gray finish complimenting the dust and the faded blue-and-yellow patterns painted on the surface beneath our feet.
I needed to finish this. Quickly.
To do that, I needed time. Lots of it. Hye-jin had said I would die first if the strategy games we played took place in real life. She was probably right. With me rolling and whirling around, eyes following the swinging arms, the kicking legs, and the snapping jaws, trying to predict where the next blow would come, it's impossible to think of anything beyond three moves.
A strong grip wrapped around my sword arm. Shit. I tried yanking it away, but the zombie latching on to me wouldn't budge. This was bad. Really bad. It didn't even have a head. I recalled my sword, then summoned it in my left hand. I plunged into the zombie's chest. The fingers fell away. Victory!
Until my momentary incapacitation let part of the horde sneak up on me. I whirled too late. The zombies pounced. My feet slid off the ground when their combined weight slammed into me like the swinging boat in amusement parks. My cheek slapped the dust, my sword skittering out of my grip. The shower of boots kicked it into the netherrealm, lost in a curtain of mismatched and tattered clothing.
